May 1, 2024
For FMCG brands, competition is rife. Due to the nature of this fast-consumer market, customers value affordability over nearly anything else, and finding practical and sustainable ways to set yourself apart in a highly competitive landscape is crucial to maintaining a successful business.
From utilising clever and memorable marketing branding on food labels to employing the influential charm of a well-established social media influencer, understanding and employing an FMCG marketing strategy suitable for your business needs can propel your brand to new heights.
Fast-moving consumer goods, or FMCG, are products typically bought, consumed, and replaced frequently by customers. These goods will have a relatively short shelf life and are characterised by a high turnover rate, rapid and consistent sales, and low-cost nature.
FMCG products are primarily everyday essentials that consumers purchase on a regular basis, often without much thought or research. Common examples include food and beverages, personal care products, cleaning products, over-the-counter healthcare products, beauty and skincare items, and tobacco products.
These goods are traditionally distributed through various popular means, including supermarkets, convenience stores, and online retailers, to name a few. Due to their large availability and high demand, FMCG companies often employ clever and competitive marketing strategies to capture and maintain a healthy position in the market.
A well-established FMCG marketing strategy needs to be a comprehensive plan that allows brands to effectively promote, distribute, and sell their products to a large customer base, thereby increasing brand visibility, customer engagement, and, ultimately, sales.
Brand awareness is vital in FMCG marketing. If someone doesn't know your product and brand exist, they cannot purchase it. What will help your brand stand out from your competitors and convince potential customers to choose your product in a heavily diluted market?
Establishing and building your brand’s identity is the only way to answer these important questions. This often includes stating your values, mission, personality, and unique selling position, which should be addressed in your marketing communications. Furthermore, defining your brand should include the packaging you choose and the look and feel of your product, which significantly influences how attractive the item is to consumers.
Additionally, positioning is another crucial factor in defining a brand. Whether you offer the cheapest product or the highest quality product, committing to sustainability and the social responsibility your business carries is another effective way of standing out from the crowd.
Due to the fast-moving nature of FMCG product sales, any marketing strategy must prioritise understanding your consumer base's purchasing habits, constantly changing and evolving to fit new preferences and the latest trends.
The most effective way to stay up-to-date with this information is by employing a data-driven marketing solution that captures the necessary shopper data through in-store purchases and online shopping. This data can be analysed to identify trends, preferences, and buying patterns, enabling marketers to create more personalised and contextual shopping experiences, a key aspect of successful FMCG marketing.
The ever-increasing rise in inflation is causing significant changes in consumer behaviour. A recent study showed that 40% of consumers would shop around for better prices, 20% would buy in bulk to get better value for money, and a whopping 54% of consumers would search or wait for a promotion before making a purchase. When a brand can't decrease prices overall, it must find ways to encourage sales that factor in price sensitivity.
While all consumers love a good deal, FMCG customers are more likely to continue regularly purchasing from one specific company should they be offered rewards or discounts in return. Money-back guarantees, coupons or discount codes, and multi-item discounts are crucial in maintaining consistent sales despite increasing costs.
In a world heavily dominated by online presence and social media platforms, having a strong marketing plan specifically designed for social media is key. It allows your brand to share important information about your products and build a loyal customer base that you would have no other way of accessing.
A 2023 study revealed that 37% of consumers trust social media influences over brands, highlighting the importance of partnering with the right personality to generate adequate ROI for your business. A well-constructed marketing strategy will allow potential customers to gain a better insight into how your product can be incorporated into everyday life, making them more inclined to purchase the item.
Shopper marketing is a vital factor in FMCG marketing as it focuses on improving the shopping experience at the point of purchase, whether in-store or online. In-store marketing strategies could consist of demos and tasting opportunities, in-store-only coupons, buy-one-get-one offers, and bulk buy discounts.
Online marketing tactics aim to offer additional benefits at the point of adding items to shopping carts. These can include complementary coupons or recommend ‘subscribe and save’ promotions for further discounts. You can also employ multi-buy offers and suggest additional items alongside the product the consumer plans to buy.
Shopper markets spend a lot of time studying the behaviour of shoppers. This includes watching how they move through aisles in-store and noting which products catch their attention. In contrast, the online analysis includes web traffic patterns, abandoned shopping carts, and email promotion links.
